Production Week is one of the busiest weeks for Stage Management. Here is a diary of what I’ve done this week. This production of Tartuffe is not technically complicated so this is a fairly relaxed sample of what a production week would usually look like.

Monday – Bump In

7:00 am – Pack lunch. And dinner. And snacks.

Food = Fuel

For 6 days. I’ve found the best way to make sure I get time to eat, is to bring as much of it with me as possible. This way I also eat healthier food which helps with my energy levels for the week.

9:00 am – Check in at theatre.
Answer any questions that may have come up at the initial stages of bump in. There was no time for a pre-rig, so not too many questions here this morning, as they’re swinging bars and rigging lamps.

Start of bump-in. A blank canvas.

9:15 am – Check in with Scenic Artist: sort out which props can she take from rehearsals for art finishing. Check in with Wardrobe: discuss new information and see if there’s anything we can use in rehearsals.

9:30 am – Set up rehearsals, set props for the day’s scene work.

10:00 am – Rehearsals

11:30 am – While the actors are on break, check in at theatre. Answer questions that have come up. There’s some complicated rigging going on, so it’s interesting to see how that’s progressing. catch up on paperwork, emails, messages and missed phone calls that have come in while I’ve been in rehearsals.

11:45 am – Back in rehearsals

1:00 pm – Eat. It’s important to make time for this.

1:30 pm – Catch up on more correspondence. Play a little hackey-sack with the cast.

2:00 pm – Rehearsals

5:45 pm – Send rehearsal report (which contains information that each department needs that has arisen in rehearsals today). Check in at theatre, see if they are ready for the Subscriber Briefing.

6pm – Subscriber briefing – A chance for State Theatre Company subscribers to ask questions of the cast and creative team before they see the show. Tonight there was some interesting discussion on the adaptation by Phillip Kavanagh.

7pm – Measure mark up: this involves measuring the marks for all the props and furniture on the stage. This needs to be done before the lighting focus, so the Lighting Designer can focus to the correct position. I will transfer the marks to the stage once the floor has been laid.

7:30 pm – Go home

9pm – Update tomorrow’s schedule with some extra publicity calls that have just been added. Catch up on pressing emails, the non-urgent ones can wait until tomorrow (or the next day).

Tuesday

11:00 am – Check in at theatre and answer any questions.

11:15 am – Check in with our Wiggy and make sure that the actors calls give them sufficient time, making sure to avoid as much overtime as possible.

11:30 am – Check in with props to discuss some changes that need to be made.

1:00 pm – Eat

2:00 pm – Rehearsals – This is our last session in the rehearsal room. We are working on some scenes that need a little more detail. I’m making sure that my blocking stays up to date with any changes, and keeping notes if any changes are likely to affect what the creative team may have already done in the theatre.

6:00 pm – Send rehearsal report. Check in with production manager. Find out which things still need some work, what has come up that we weren’t expecting. What hazards do I need to be aware of?

6:30 pm – Eat

7:00 pm – Get theatre ready for cast.

Getting ready for the plot

7:15 pm – Induct cast. This involves safety procedures, evacuation procedures, incident procedures. Make them aware of any hazards that exist. Chat about how the sessions are going to run.

7:30 pm – LX plot (with actors onstage). Often there will be no actors onstage during a lighting plot, we would use ‘walkers’ instead so the cast can have an extra session in the rehearsal room. For Tartuffe, the lighting is not too complicated, so we have decided to use the time on stage for the actors to work with the director, while I sit with our Lighting Designer to plot the lighting. As it is still a lighting session, we are not focussing on any technical moments, we are working separately from the cast. Meanwhile, the Assistant Stage Manager is starting to set props, set up the backstage areas, and make sure everything is safe. She is also putting some white tape on obstacles backstage so the actors can see them easily in the dark.

11:00 pm – Check in with the Designer about any notes that have come up, things that need to be fixed or finished.

9:00 am – Respond to emails that came up yesterday, and answer some phone calls from the office.

11:00 am – Check in at theatre. Some new masking is about to go in that will affect actor traffic backstage as well where the Stage Manager’s Desk (SMD) can go. We tried to come up with some solutions that will solve both the sightline issues and also the traffic issues. It’s still a work in progress.

12:00 pm – We are trying to solve some furniture storage issues, as we have a 4 metre long table. This show doesn’t have any legs or masking upstage of the proscenium, so we’re trying to find some solutions for where to store such a massive table during the show when it is not needed.

1:25 pm – Half hour call.

2:00 pm – Technical rehearsal – The first time we put all the elements together, sound, lighting, costumes, actors, consumable props, final props. We step through the show slowly, making sure that we work sequences until we get them right.

The view from prompt-side at the start of the tech.

6:00 pm – Eat.

7:00 pm – Continue technical rehearsal.

11:00 pm – Go home.

Thursday

11:00 am – Check in with Production Manager and have a look at some new masking that has been put in.

12:00 pm – Check in with all the departments about how things are going.

12:30 pm – Eat.

1:00 pm – Preset and do pre-tech checks.

1:25 pm – Half hour call.

2:00 pm – Continue technical rehearsal.

5:30 pm – Eat

6:00 pm – Preset for dress rehearsal

6:30 pm – Pre-show checks. We have blown a lamp over the marble. The lighting department change the bulb. This is why we do pre-show lamp checks early enough in the evening.

7:15 pm – Half hour call.

7:40 pm – Dress Rehearsal. It goes really well. Still work to do to tighten things up, but a very good foundation to work from.

10:45 pm – Notes in the green room with cast, creatives and Director.

12:30 am – Send some emails about tomorrow, and send running times to relevant people.

12:45 am – Go home.

Friday

11:00 am -Respond to emails and phone calls. There’s a lot of these as I haven’t had time to do any of this since Wednesday morning. Mostly they are questions from the office.

12:30 pm – Eat .

12:55 pm – Half hour call.

1:30 pm – Rehearsals onstage with a photographer in attendance to take production photos.

6:00 pm – Eat.

6:30 pm – Preset for the show & do pre-show checks.

7:25 pm – Half hour call.

8:00 pm – Preview # 1.

10:45 pm – Check on the marble floor. We found two cracked tiles before the show, and needed to tape them over for bare feet. We now have four cracked tiles. Workshop are coming in to replace them tomorrow.

11:00 pm – Check in with one of the producers and our Sound Technician about some sound issues that we are having. Come up with a couple of solutions and order in which to try them.

2:00 pm – Rehearsals. At this stage we are working through a list of things that need attention from last night’s preview, including working through the script changes, acting notes and tightening up transitions.

5:30 pm – Finalise schedule for next week & distribute

6:00 pm – Transfer blocking to pages that have had to be replaced in prompt copy because of script changes.

It’s the last week of rehearsals and we’re making a final push to finish the production elements before we bump into the theatre on Monday.

In the rehearsal room, the Director is layering detail into the scenes while the cast continues to make discoveries about their characters.

I’m making sure the prompt copy is accurate and up to date so we’ll have all the information we need in the theatre next week. I’m also starting to insert the cues as the design team provide me with synopses, so we can save time in the plots.

A key task at this stage is creation of running plots for the show crew. These detail all the cues they have during the show, including any relevant information that might help them. Ideally, a crew plot is succinct enough to not be overwhelming, but contains enough information that someone could pick it up and do the show with minimal explanation (but more about that in a future post).

We are also having a lot of conversations about how we can make best use of the brief period we have in the theatre before opening night. We bump in on Monday, with our first audience on Friday, so finding creative solutions to maximise this time benefits everyone.

This is made particularly complex by the fact that there are so many competing variables in the theatre. The sound team need a certain amount of quiet time; the lighting team need some dark time; the cast members need some time with the set, sound and lights; and workshop need some time where they can have the set to themselves, make noise and have light. It’s a juggling act and each show comes with its own demands. Thankfully, Tartuffe is not technically difficult, so we may be able to afford the cast some more time onstage, without stealing time from any of the other departments.

As we make the final efforts to be as prepared as possible for bump in, the important thing to remember is that we are all making something together. Although we all have different priorities to make sure we each deliver our elements on time, if we don’t lose sight of the fact that we’re all working towards the same outcome, we will get there.

It’s the end of week 2, rehearsals are now well underway and the production of Tartuffe is slowly accruing the attributes that will, at some point, coalesce and take on a life of its own.

The actors are immersed in the exploration of their characters, while the Director is constructing the world they inhabit. Alongside this, the set and costumes are being made, and all the while I’m busy keeping things on track – recording the blocking and props notes, scheduling the production and liaising with the Company’s other departments (Workshop, Sound, Lighting, Wardrobe, Publicity, Administration) about the show’s requirements.

Back in the rehearsal room, at this stage everything that happens is an experiment. Damis needs to overhear a conversation between Tartuffe and Elmire. Will he hide in a cupboard, will he hide in plain sight or will he hide in somewhere in the architecture of the theatre?

While this debate takes place, I’m making sure that the cast members and Director have everything they need to keep experimenting and, at the same time, I’m keeping the production departments up to date as the show evolves. It’s a balancing act between keeping things outside the room moving forward, in terms of sourcing props and building the set, but not moving too far in case the parameters shift when an idea doesn’t take hold. It’s about finding the fulcrum that allows creative expression within a finite deadline.

At this point in the production, it’s important for Stage Management to remain flexible, because things are always being added, changed or cut at short notice. We have to allow the Creative team to play. However, it’s also critical that we have everything finished by opening night. Balancing the competing interests is not always easy, however if you are clear on exactly how long things will take, and know the latest point at which you really need a decision made, you can work out when the experimentation needs to move into something more solid.

For now, it doesn’t matter where Damis hides, but I know exactly when we need to start pushing for a decision. So until that crucial moment, I’ll give them the opportunity to play.